Take a wild and woolly magic carpet ride through the post-psychedelic alternative spirituality explosion of the ‘60s and ‘70s with Don Como’s Aliens From Spaceship Earth! Featuring on-screen narration and soundtrack by Donovan, the film features rare footage of the most popular and controversial cosmic leaders of the time, including Sai Baba, Yogi Bhahan, Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, Guru Maharaj Ji, Elizabeth Clare Prophet, Ram Dass and Father Yod, with jaw-dropping footage of thousands of white, middle class young people walking barefoot across coals, being kidnapped by “deprogrammers,” engaging in tantric sex, and devoting themselves wholly to the radical, transformational practices and teachings of their “alien” spiritual teachers. Plus, it also has celebs Cybil Shepard, Martin Landau, “Chicago 7” activist Rennie Davis, Leigh Taylor Young, Linda Day George, and Raymond Burr, getting ecstatic about their gurus and God. One of the only films of its era to counteract the mass media’s anti-cult backlash that demonized a generation of seekers, Aliens… provides potent insight into a ‘70s subculture still vastly misunderstood today. After the screening (only its second public showing in 30 years), join Process Media’s Jodi Wille in a live conversation with director Don Como and very special guests from two of the spiritual groups represented in the film!
Dir. Don Como, 1977, DigiBeta, 70 min.